We are all familiar with the phrase “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”, but is this really true? Or do we use this as an excuse to avoid learning? We want to stay in our comfort zone, because exactly that; it’s comfortable.
With an always growing world and technology is changing the way we do business, maybe this excuse could cause us issues in our business, employment and set a company behind the competition. We need to continue to develop our skills and keep up, because as scary as it is the younger generations are creeping up and are becoming smarter and quicker. Now I cannot make you quicker, but I can encourage learning. This doesn’t mean go back to university, but get into forums read daily and learn about what your area is doing currently. Learn how twitter works and follow trending hashtags.
Even more so, find conferences that support your field and try to make the time to attend and focus at them. You need to stay relevant, and make yourself an in disposable asset to the company. Now younger people are coming into companies, what you need to harness is your years of experience. Don’t just say I know everything because I have been doing it for 10 years +. Make time to write down what it is you are experienced in (fine details).
A mentor I had encouraged me to journal, make a log of my personal and professional issues. Work out what I decided to do with a situation etc and some short-term hindsight. Even to start weekly, then slowly increase to daily then you find time to also reflect on it. This is one area you can hone your experience to your advantage. Look at all areas when you are reflecting, conversations, decisions, anything you think looking at it you see room for improvement. It’s a challenge at first to critique yourself, but it is good once you get going with it.
We find it easy to critique our subordinates and staff, colleagues and bosses, but when we look at even a decision they made which we were frustrated, confused etc log it in your journal. If you think of a solution you would have done that might have been better suited put the notes in, you will as you reflect and grow you will get to a very knowledgeable position. You can learn from this to communicate better if you didn’t address an issue with a staff member in the best way but upon thinking more about it you were able to find a better solution. Initially you might find thinking on an issue overnight and discussing it the next day with your staff helps you buy some time to reach the best decision for all parties.
As time improves you will find yourself making better judgement calls and decisions on the fly and not needing to think it through. You will also find your communication and understanding of others will increase. So remind me again, can you teach an old dog new tricks or are we just choosing the easier path which in the long-term could be our demise?